Doraiswami keen to push Covaxin as Covishield exports disrupted

[Black_cats]

Doraiswami keen to push Covaxin as Covishield exports disrupted
UNB

• Published at 02:59 pm April 30th, 2021

File photo of Covid19 vaccine candidate, set for human trialsTwitter

The high commissioner said besides the Covishield vaccine from Serum, the alternative that they have consistently been offering to export is Covaxin, India's homegrown Covid-19 vaccine

Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Vikram Doraiswami is keen to remind his hosts that there is another option of a Covid-19 vaccine available from his country as the vaccine supply from the Serum Institute of India got disrupted amid high domestic demand.

The high commissioner said besides the Covishield vaccine from Serum, the alternative that they have consistently been offering to export is Covaxin, which they offered not only for trial here in Bangladesh at their own cost but also for co-production.

Covaxin is the brand name of India’s "indigenous vaccine," so called for also being developed on Indian soil by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) - National Institute of Virology (NIV).

Doraiswami reiterated that for Covaxin, there is also an offer to co-produce, which remains on the table.

He also said Dhaka can choose to be flexible, so the choice is not either/or. It can choose to order both.

“Bangladesh can choose all the options offered to it. It can choose some. But this is Bangladesh’s sovereign decision, not an Indian decision,” he said, while addressing a symposium titled "Bangladesh-India Relations: Prognosis for the Future" which premiered on Thursday night on Facebook.

Also Read - Indian envoy: Greater trade, connectivity hold brighter future for Dhaka-Delhi ties

Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, renowned scholar and diplomat and former adviser on foreign affairs to the last caretaker government, chaired the session. Chairman of Cosmos Foundation Enayetullah Khan delivered the opening remarks.

It was the latest instalment in Cosmos Foundation’s Ambassador Lecture Series, in which the envoys of various countries stationed in Dhaka are invited to deliver a keynote, before engaging with a high-level expert panel on bilateral ties between Bangladesh and the country they represent.

Former ambassador Tariq A Karim, Professor C Raja Mohan, Professor Imtiaz Ahmed, Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, Maj Gen (retd) ANM Muniruzzaman, Dr Fahmida Khatun, Brig Gen (retd) Shahedul Anam Khan and former ambassador Krishnan Srinivasan spoke at the event as the panel of discussants, drawn from both sides of the border.

Bangladesh has so far received seven million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, manufactured under licence by Serum Institute and sold under the brand name Covishield. It had signed a deal with local pharma giant Beximco Pharmaceuticals to supply 30 million doses over a period of six months, starting from January.

The supply of the rest of the vaccine doses as agreed remains suspended due to current high demand in India.

Bangladesh also received 3.3 million doses of Covishield as a bilateral partnership gift. Overall, the 10.3 million doses are the largest amount sent by India to any country.

The Indian envoy said Serum signed the agreement directly with the Health Ministry of Bangladesh through Beximco on the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. “It’s not a government of India-facilitated agreement," he added.

Bharat Biotech and icddr,b entered an agreement in December 2020 for the Phase III clinical trials of Covaxin in Bangladesh, but the actual trials are still awaiting approval.

Covaxin has shown efficacy of over 80%, comparable to that of Covishield.

An array of experts from Bangladesh and India were brought together for the online symposium hosted by the Cosmos Foundation, philanthropic arm of the Cosmos Group, to assess the state of relations between the two countries and identify the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in the effort to take it forward.

India’s tough second wave

The high commissioner said they have done their best to provide vaccines to Bangladesh, to all its neighbours and also to other countries to which they have legally and commercially binding obligations, including the UK.

On availability of vaccines, the Indian envoy said there is a major crisis underway in India at the current moment

“We’re doing our best within that current situation to make available vaccines and increase the production of vaccines so that we’ve the capacity to provide not only to our population who’re now unable to get the first or second doses of vaccine but also provide it to whom SII has bilateral commercial commitment,” he said.

India has been trying to meet its internal demand as well as obligations made under contractual agreements by Indian companies to produce more of the vaccines being manufactured at the Serum Institute of India in Pune and by other prominent vaccines manufacturers.

Doraiswami keen to push Covaxin as Covishield exports disrupted

The high commissioner said besides the Covishield vaccine from Serum, the alternative that they have consistently been offering to export is Covaxin, India's homegrown Covid-19 vaccine

www.dhakatribune.com

 

[DalalErMaNodi]

N + O = NO

 

[leonblack08]

Lol...what a surprise from the Indians...take money for Bull...but deliver Bullshyte.

 

[Bilal9]

Lol...what a surprise from the Indians...take money for Bull...but deliver Bullshyte.

All they have are excuses.

Saaar - chakkar pum choli gesey....(wheels out of air)

Saaar - mobil shesh hoi gesey....(engine out of lubricant)

Never accountability or ownership - just pointing fingers here and there...

 

[Destranator]

Doraiswami keen to push Covaxin as Covishield exports disrupted
UNB

• Published at 02:59 pm April 30th, 2021

File photo of Covid19 vaccine candidate, set for human trialsTwitter

The high commissioner said besides the Covishield vaccine from Serum, the alternative that they have consistently been offering to export is Covaxin, India's homegrown Covid-19 vaccine

Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Vikram Doraiswami is keen to remind his hosts that there is another option of a Covid-19 vaccine available from his country as the vaccine supply from the Serum Institute of India got disrupted amid high domestic demand.

The high commissioner said besides the Covishield vaccine from Serum, the alternative that they have consistently been offering to export is Covaxin, which they offered not only for trial here in Bangladesh at their own cost but also for co-production.

Covaxin is the brand name of India’s "indigenous vaccine," so called for also being developed on Indian soil by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) - National Institute of Virology (NIV).

Doraiswami reiterated that for Covaxin, there is also an offer to co-produce, which remains on the table.

He also said Dhaka can choose to be flexible, so the choice is not either/or. It can choose to order both.

“Bangladesh can choose all the options offered to it. It can choose some. But this is Bangladesh’s sovereign decision, not an Indian decision,” he said, while addressing a symposium titled "Bangladesh-India Relations: Prognosis for the Future" which premiered on Thursday night on Facebook.

Also Read - Indian envoy: Greater trade, connectivity hold brighter future for Dhaka-Delhi ties

Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, renowned scholar and diplomat and former adviser on foreign affairs to the last caretaker government, chaired the session. Chairman of Cosmos Foundation Enayetullah Khan delivered the opening remarks.

It was the latest instalment in Cosmos Foundation’s Ambassador Lecture Series, in which the envoys of various countries stationed in Dhaka are invited to deliver a keynote, before engaging with a high-level expert panel on bilateral ties between Bangladesh and the country they represent.

Former ambassador Tariq A Karim, Professor C Raja Mohan, Professor Imtiaz Ahmed, Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, Maj Gen (retd) ANM Muniruzzaman, Dr Fahmida Khatun, Brig Gen (retd) Shahedul Anam Khan and former ambassador Krishnan Srinivasan spoke at the event as the panel of discussants, drawn from both sides of the border.

Bangladesh has so far received seven million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, manufactured under licence by Serum Institute and sold under the brand name Covishield. It had signed a deal with local pharma giant Beximco Pharmaceuticals to supply 30 million doses over a period of six months, starting from January.

The supply of the rest of the vaccine doses as agreed remains suspended due to current high demand in India.

Bangladesh also received 3.3 million doses of Covishield as a bilateral partnership gift. Overall, the 10.3 million doses are the largest amount sent by India to any country.

The Indian envoy said Serum signed the agreement directly with the Health Ministry of Bangladesh through Beximco on the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. “It’s not a government of India-facilitated agreement," he added.

Bharat Biotech and icddr,b entered an agreement in December 2020 for the Phase III clinical trials of Covaxin in Bangladesh, but the actual trials are still awaiting approval.

Covaxin has shown efficacy of over 80%, comparable to that of Covishield.

An array of experts from Bangladesh and India were brought together for the online symposium hosted by the Cosmos Foundation, philanthropic arm of the Cosmos Group, to assess the state of relations between the two countries and identify the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in the effort to take it forward.

India’s tough second wave

The high commissioner said they have done their best to provide vaccines to Bangladesh, to all its neighbours and also to other countries to which they have legally and commercially binding obligations, including the UK.

On availability of vaccines, the Indian envoy said there is a major crisis underway in India at the current moment

“We’re doing our best within that current situation to make available vaccines and increase the production of vaccines so that we’ve the capacity to provide not only to our population who’re now unable to get the first or second doses of vaccine but also provide it to whom SII has bilateral commercial commitment,” he said.

India has been trying to meet its internal demand as well as obligations made under contractual agreements by Indian companies to produce more of the vaccines being manufactured at the Serum Institute of India in Pune and by other prominent vaccines manufacturers.

Doraiswami keen to push Covaxin as Covishield exports disrupted

The high commissioner said besides the Covishield vaccine from Serum, the alternative that they have consistently been offering to export is Covaxin, India's homegrown Covid-19 vaccine

www.dhakatribune.com

@UKBengali
Fauci says Covaxin is effective.
I would like to see more independent verification.
If it is as good, I see no harm in co-production. We will be getting/producing other vaccines anyway so there is nothing to lose.

 

[UKBengali]

@UKBengali
Fauci says Covaxin is effective.
I would like to see more independent verification.
If it is as good, I see no harm in co-production. We will be getting/producing other vaccines anyway so there is nothing to lose.

No, just another lame attempt to disrupt the BD homegrown vaccine program.

Why does BD need so many vaccines right now?:

1. BD virus cases have plummeted and are well under control again.

2. BD has young and slim population that are at less risk than in Western countries with older and fatter population. Look at those dying outside Indian hospitals and it is mainly the fat. BD population is actually less fat than India's as India's middle class is proportionately larger than BD's.

3. 4 million doses of Sputnik will come this month and Indian will most likely resume exports of AstraZeneca vaccine late May or Early June as estimated by SII. BD will set up local production of Sputnik in 2nd half of this year.



More vaccines is not necessarily a good thing and I have no idea why BD now wants to introduce the Sinopharm vaccine into BD. It is much better for administrative reasons to stick with as few vaccines as possible, rather than have so many vaccines that it is hard to keep track of how each really compares to the other.

This should be the BD vaccine mix:

1. AstraZeneca
2. Sputnik
3. BD's own mRNA vaccine if it proves successful in human trials.

 

[Surya 1]

This is a very effective vaccine which gives protection against all forms of corona. The good part is that it is fully Desi and no import is required. Its efficacy is so high that even US is planning to import it.

 

[Bilal9]

No, just another lame attempt to disrupt the BD homegrown vaccine program.

Why does BD need so many vaccines right now?:

1. BD virus cases have plummeted and are well under control again.

2. BD has young and slim population that are at less risk than in Western countries with older and fatter population. Look at those dying outside Indian hospitals and it is mainly the fat. BD population is actually less fat than India's as India's middle class is proportionately larger than BD's.

3. 4 million doses of Sputnik will come this month and Indian will most likely resume exports of AstraZeneca vaccine late May or Early June as estimated by SII. BD will set up local production of Sputnik in 2nd half of this year.



More vaccines is not necessarily a good thing and I have no idea why BD now wants to introduce the Sinopharm vaccine into BD. It is much better for administrative reasons to stick with as few vaccines as possible, rather than have so many vaccines that it is hard to keep track of how each really compares to the other.

This should be the BD vaccine mix:

1. AstraZeneca
2. Sputnik
3. BD's own mRNA vaccine if it proves successful in human trials.

@UKBengali bhai Covid is not going away until mid-year 2022, it might keep coming back even after that.

Having the ready mechanism to produce vaccines (of different types) may not be a bad thing, to produce and not to produce will of course be dependent on supply of API and other raw material inputs.

One cannot rule out export prospects either, for needs in other countries.

I see the Pharma companies in Bangladesh supplying the world with different types of vaccines, the infra already exists and it should be utilized and strengthened many times over.

 

[Destranator]

No, just another lame attempt to disrupt the BD homegrown vaccine program.

Why does BD need so many vaccines right now?:

1. BD virus cases have plummeted and are well under control again.

2. BD has young and slim population that are at less risk than in Western countries with older and fatter population. Look at those dying outside Indian hospitals and it is mainly the fat. BD population is actually less fat than India's as India's middle class is proportionately larger than BD's.

3. 4 million doses of Sputnik will come this month and Indian will most likely resume exports of AstraZeneca vaccine late May or Early June as estimated by SII. BD will set up local production of Sputnik in 2nd half of this year.



More vaccines is not necessarily a good thing and I have no idea why BD now wants to introduce the Sinopharm vaccine into BD. It is much better for administrative reasons to stick with as few vaccines as possible, rather than have so many vaccines that it is hard to keep track of how each really compares to the other.

This should be the BD vaccine mix:

1. AstraZeneca
2. Sputnik
3. BD's own mRNA vaccine if it proves successful in human trials.

Bangladesh being a market of 180 million, no one source will be able to cater for the entire population. The way this virus is transforming itself, we are likely going to have to vaccinate kids and provide recurring annual or even bi-annual jabs to the entire population.

There will be enough opportunity for Bongavax to establish itself should it pass human trials.

The Astrazenica supply bungle is more of a BAL fault (by trying to enrich their sugar daddy Dorbesh baba) than India's.
SII can not supply BD even if they want to because they do not have sufficient raw materials. Also, I would be surprised if their contract with us did not have clauses subjecting the supply to availability of raw materials and prioritising their local market. Our journos are too retarded to dig deep.
Even if SII was dumb enough to not include such clauses in the contract, the Indian govt will protect them from any BD lawsuits as their nation comes first.

We need to put our India Derangement Syndrome to a rest and start looking in the mirror.

Even rich and efficient countries like Australia and Canada are struggling to receive vaccines despite signing multiple contracts with many suppliers.

Bangladesh has a much a greater population and therefore must explore all its options especially those allowing local production.

Regarding having covid "under control":
Take the government figures on infections and deaths with a bag of salt.
There is gross under-reporting in Bangladesh due to various reasons including poor people avoiding tests and treatment to keep their jobs, relatives of dead covid victims suppressing diagnosis for burials to go smoothly, administrative incompetence, etc..

The recent dip in numbers is due to the temporary and unsustainable lockdown + people leaving Dhaka early for Eid. Just wait and watch how the numbers explode once people return to work and the Indian strain takes hold.

 

[Suriya]

N + O = NO

Doraiswami must be out of his mind.

Covaxin is in far more in demand than Covishiled in India and out of stock since it is produced 10 times less than Covishiled by SII.

In own state, the capital gets Covaxin where ministers and Bureaucrats get it, while rest of the state get Covishild.

Also price of Covaxin is 25% more than Covishild, sold to the state govts in India.

 

[Surya 1]

Doraiswami must be out of his mind.

Covaxin is in far more in demand than Covishiled in India and out of stock since it is produced 10 times less than Covishiled by SII.

In own state, the capital gets Covaxin where ministers and Bureaucrats get it, while rest of the state get Covishild.

Also price of Covaxin is 25% more than Covishild, sold to the state govts in India.

Covaxin production is all set to rise. From July onward 60 to 70 million dosages shall be produced.

 

[UKBengali]

Covaxin production is all set to rise. From July onward 60 to 70 million dosages shall be produced.

Is that per month?

 

[mb444]

@UKBengali
Fauci says Covaxin is effective.
I would like to see more independent verification.
If it is as good, I see no harm in co-production. We will be getting/producing other vaccines anyway so there is nothing to lose.

I would not trust indian vaccine.... absolutely no....

There has never been a single agreement that india has delivered on.... BAL idiots must learn and move a away from these hindutva scums whose hate of muslims permeates all their decisions.

 

[Saiful Islam]

The disparity in vaccinations is disappointing, good one for the rich, ineffective one for the poor. Shouldn't have to be like this..

 

[Suriya]

I would not trust indian vaccine.... absolutely no....

There has never been a single agreement that india has delivered on.... BAL idiots must learn and move a away from these hindutva scums whose hate of muslims permeates all their decisions.

LOL u shd check how many types of vaccines India and the company Bharat Biotech which makes Covaxin already export to BD .

The disparity in vaccinations is disappointing, good one for the rich, ineffective one for the poor. Shouldn't have to be like this..

Covaxin has more efficacy and less side effects and more price than Covishild.

Is that per month?

Yes, their target is 700 million per year.